Apple faces fresh share-deal lawsuit

The action has been taken on behalf of people who purchased Apple's stock between July 19 and September 28, 2000.

The complaint alleges: "Apple, and certain of its officers and directors, issued false and misleading statements regarding its business and financial condition."

Sales hype Specifically, the law firm charges Apple with overstating its predicted sales of Power Mac G4 dual processor, G4 Cube and iMac computers. It's charged with "representing that they were exceptionally powerful, fast and attractive, coming with exceptionally attractive designs and containing new and revolutionary features".

It's also alleged that: "At this time Apple represented that the development of these new products was completed, that they were ready for mass production, and would be available in quantity shortly." The company then claimed this would result in strong revenue growth in the fourth quarter of its 2000 financial year, the suit claims.

Share options Apple's stock climbed to $64 in the period, at which point four senior Apple officers sold 370,000 company shares for $22 million.

Only 20-25 days later, Apple shocked investors when it warned of a huge fourth-quarter revenue shortfall due to poor education and consumer sales of its products - some of which were "late to market, had defects and lacked features essential for market success", according Schiffrin & Barroway.

This caused a build-up of product inventory levels, costly cancellations of component orders and some financial penalties. Apple's stock fell as low as $13 as a result in a decline that wiped over $10 billion from the company's market capitalization in a few days.

The legal firm is seeking damages on behalf of members of its class-action suit, and invites relevant investors to approach the company online to add their names to those named in the class action.

Legal firm Charles Piven has distributed an announcement alleging similar violations. The news follows an announcement of a similar suit by legal firm Milberg Weiss two weeks ago.